


Boys will be boys

by LaLaLaLelo



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Boys Will Be Boys, F/M, Fun, Humor, Pre-Time Skip, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 13:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20489654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LaLaLaLelo/pseuds/LaLaLaLelo
Summary: Sylvain, the bathhouse and Claude's plan not working the way he imagined.





	Boys will be boys

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, this is my very first fic. Also, English isn't my native language. So please forgive grammar or spelling mistakes, I did the best I could :)  
I have been having some ideas about possible scenarios during three houses, mainly the GD route. Claude von Riegan won't let my mind come to rest hrrr ~  
I try to stay canon and in character but I prob wander off from that from time to time.  
Enjoy~

Time seemed to stand still. Sunbeams fell through the window into the seminar room, indicating the lovely weather they all seemed to miss out on. Professor Manuela walked monotonously along the aisle, reading in her bewitching voice from an antigue-looking book. Whilst the students of the first two rows took moderately motivated notes, the third row lingered gracelessly on their chairs. From time to time, small glances fell on the professor, who, as usual, could not resist showing up dressed with rather less than more clothing. The last row was mentally no longer present and otherwise busied with themselves. For the first hour, Claude stared at a stain on the wall at the far end of the room, wondering if those were the remains of his last failed experiment from a week ago. In the second hour, he fumbled restlessly around his pockets, trying to find anything he could keep his hands and mind busy with. A spoon, two hair ties from Hilda, some chalk remains, a squishy stump of a candle and a sparkly rock he discovered in the dining hall.

"Imperial year 861. After King Klaus I. passed away, his sons divided the holy kingdom of Faerghus into three territories and ruled from then on as archdukes."

Claude sighed. He knew the history of Fódlan inside out and even more than that, since he managed to snatch some confidential monastery documents and sneaked those into his room. He could spend days and nights in the library. Piles of books occupied his bed, leaving himself not enough space in it. Not that it mattered, since he fell asleep on his rug most of the time, passing out upon his tactic maps and scheming concepts. The professors liked to describe him as loafing and uninhibited, blaming his lack of seriousness. The truth was, he was far ahead of his classmates, at least regarding general subjects. To achieve great ambitions and goals, one should be prepared for the future. Only those who are aware of the past and present events are able to shape the future for the better. With this believing, he absorbed all available knowledge, often leaving him becoming quickly bored with his surroundings. The general subjects took place as a mixed seminar for students of all houses. They usually degenerated into lengthy monologues. He twiddled around with the hair ties, attempting to knot the chalk pieces together.

"Come on Felix, don’t be a coward. You can be stiffy later, you’re missing out on the time of your life.“

Sitting directly behind Claude, Sylvain was trying one of his attempts on convincing Felix to join in on his good-for-nothing-missions. For most of the time, the local ladies were involved somehow. As usual, it would probably not work on the grumpy loner.

"Shut up Sylvain and finally leave me be with your foolish games. I have to train later, because unlike you, I still intend to make something useful with my life."

"Uhh yes, you mean dying like a lonely and untouched maiden?"

The comment brought him a rough kick to the ankle. Claude found a few more toothpicks in his pockets, which he clumsily tried to combine with the improvised chalk-hair tie-candle-construct.

"What about you Dimitri? You can’t hide forever, just because your last date went terribly wrong. You are a healthy young man with needs. Once you take over the kingdom, your chance is over."

Dimitri inhaled sharply. "N…no, I can’t get involved in one of your absurdities again. It’s not suitable in my position to do such a wicked and improper action of…"

"Boooooring. You can’t tell me that you’re not at least interested. Look me in the eye and tell me the truth.“

"No ... no … well … I ..."

"Great, it’ll be a blast! Afterwards, we can still ..."

A loud smack on the back of his head silenced Sylvain and woke the dozing rest of the class, whilst Bernadetta flinched in shock and Mercedes and Anette were left in quiet chuckles. Professor Manuela took the attention back to class with one of her famous headbutts. Sylvain rubbed the back of his aching head, ignoring the piercing look he got from Ingrid sitting in the front row. Claude tried to craft the spoon into his construct, one of the toothpicks snapped. _Crap._

As Professor Manuela continued lulling, Felix leaned back and huffed in satisfaction.

"You can take your childish attempts elsewhere, but not where you pester others with your incompetence and sloppiness and certainly not around me. Take the boar prince and get out of my sight.“

"Felix, please mind your language, ladies don’t fancy that. Your lack of interest in women will give everyone the wrong idea. Although sometimes I wouldn’t mind ...“

The bell rang for lunch break and a wild rustle passed through the aisle as everyone hurried up stowing their scrolls and quills into their bags. With a sigh, Professor Manuela closed the book and mumbled something about needing a drink. As Felix raged away, Sylvain still persuaded Dimitri to join him into whatever he had in mind. Dimitri lowered his head in shame and did his best to ignore his friend. Claude stood up, placed the strange sparkly rock on the spoon and positioned his sloppily improvised catapult. With a mumbled "Whatever“ he slammed his fist on the dipper and sent his ammunition flying across the room, towards Linhardt's resting head, which had already smacked the table as the first five minutes of the seminar passed by. Claude packed his things and disappeared outside.

"Oh look Marianne, that's the jewelry I must have lost in the dining hall. I wanted to use it for Lysithea's bracelet." Hilda chuckled happily as she picked up and stored the rock in her pocket. Linhardt grunted and moved his head to the other side.

* * *

As the dinner bell rang, Claude entered the dining hall, hungry for a nice and warming tomato soup. He picked up his share of dinner when he saw a waving Sylvain in the back of the hall. He sighted and ruffled his hand through his hair. _Guess, I won’t be able to escape now._ He made his way to the table where Sylvain and some others already sat. As he passed by the professors table, he sent a sheepish wink to his teach, only to be stared at with an unimpressed look, as usual. He let himself drop loudly onto the seat, sending an expectant glance to Sylvain.

"This better be good.“

"Oh Claude, you have no idea. Since you are a man of class, you will fully understand that this is going to be grand.“

Raising an eyebrow, he inspected the rest of the group. Dimitri was staring his cheese-baked chicken to a second death, whilst Ignatz and Ashe were scooting impatiently around their seats. What a weird party to be sitting in.

"So, what troubles are you up to now?“

"I overheard Professor Manuela yesterday. They are reopening the bathhouse this evening!“

Sylvains excitement showed all over his face up to his ears. The bathhouse was only available to professors and some selected knights and staff members of the monastery. So technically, there was nothing to be so eager about. But he was Claude von Riegan and after spending quite some time at the academy, he also knew who Sylvain Jose Gautier was.

"Sylvain, you know that I don’t ever miss out on the opportunity for a nice little rebellion. But please don’t tell me you plan to sneak into the bathhouse and peek on Professor Manuela. I mean come on, she is doing well for her age. But it’s not like you don’t have enough girls walking around with half her age. This is low, even for you“

Sylvain’s smirk just widened. "I knew it, you are a smarty-pants! Well, Professor Manuela for sure is still quite a snack“ – Ignatz shivered – "but of course she won’t be going alone.“

Claude didn’t like where this was going.

"She will meet up with Shamir, Catherine aaaand your beloved professor Byleth.“

Claude choked on his first spoon full of soup, spitting it across the table on Ashe’s potato stew.

"What, what are you talking about? And why would you be interested in Shamir…or Catherine... or teach…“ As his mumbling grew quiet, he knew how unconvincing his response sounded.

"Oh come on, not even a blind person would miss out on how you cling to her, begging for attention and praise.“ Sylvain rolled his eyes. "Not saying you have a bad taste. I mean, look at those –“

A loud and painful sounding thump below the table meant the second kick for Sylvain on this day.

"Ouuuch, okay, sorry, sorry. No need in getting all sour. So, will you be joining? Because you can’t hold us back. We are in the middle of our youth and man, it’s really hard just getting the tiniest glimpse of bare female skin while being in this stuck up academy. Especially with having Ingrid lurking around us. Or Seteth.“

"Oh, poor thing are you now, Sir Gautier? And how did these lovely gentlemen get the honor to be part of your super secret and guaranteed successful mission? They sure don’t look like the usual suspects if you ask me.“

Ignatz looked away in hot shame, while Ashe’s face was ridden with confusion. Dimitri messed up his place with cheese all over his plate, not being able to make usage of his normally graceful table manners.

"Well, I couldn’t ask Ferdinand, as he is a little telltale for his extra praise of the day. He would give our plan away immediately, if not being a loud mouth with it for everybody to hear. And my granny is more fun than Hubert or Dedue, Linhardt would be too lazy anyways, so I didn’t give them a thought. Caspar is away on a mission to his father’s lands.“

"You could have asked Raphael.“ Claude knew it sounded stupid, but he just wanted to annoy the hell out of Sylvain for this even more stupid plan of his.

"Are you serious? I’m not seeing Rapahel sneaking around the bathhouse. I even doubt he would understand what we would be doing there in the first place.“

Ignatz coughed and with reddened cheeks he intervened. "Raphael‘s stealth skills got a lot better since Shamir taught him… well, how to breathe. He moves around much more gently.“

Skeptical faces watch him in silence. "Well, like gently… considering that he still is…Raphael...“ His voice died out.

Sylvain inhaled for his next sentence. "So, yeah, whatever. These boys should finally learn about the beautiful nature the sight of a female body beholds, so these are the chosen ones and the two of us should guide them.“ He tightened his chest as if he was being terribly proud of himself.

"Ah so, but may I interrupt your nonchalant tittle-tattle and seat myself as a man of true acknowledgment in this subject?“

Sylvain snorts in amusement, whilst Claude puckers his face into a grimace when Lorenz seated himself unbidden to Dimitri’s side.

"True Acknowledgment of what exactly?“ Claude poked his spoon around his soup.

"Well, of the female wonders we are blessed with. In mentally but also physical sense. Don’t you always pretend to be all knowing and overly experienced. Just as myself, you haven’t found yourself a damsel of noble heritage to be the chosen future mother of your children. If you keep slacking off, the chances of House Riegan to maintain their…“

The third thump on this day wasn’t less painful but for once not directed towards Sylvain.

"How dare you talk like that about…“ Claude cut himself off. It wasn’t typical of him losing his head so easily, but almost everything about Lorenz made his gut heat up in hot annoyance. He had to think quick. There was no way, he would be able to put Sylvain off his ridiculous plan and especially not now with Lorenz joining in. Whilst he himself did always enjoy the company of lovely women, he was never seriously entrapped by meaningless female charm addressed towards him. When women chose to be around him, it was mostly for his looks or title, he had a lot in common with Sylvain regarding that matter. But as soon as they couldn’t keep up with his twisted mind or everlasting curiosity for the secrets of those around him, they fled due his lacking interest in them. As he was still a man, he did have thoughts as every other healthy male his age had. He just didn’t give in to them as easily as his classmates did. And besides that, since quite some time it wasn’t about women in general. Mostly, he only had one specific one in his mind. He let his eyes wander around the hall, until his gaze met his dark blue-haired target. Of course, this would only be because of learning efforts and the curiosity in her person. After all, she was a mysterious being, with her fighting and tactical skills, yet still so clueless about the events of this country. When her focused eyes roamed through class, he felt transparent every time she got stuck on him. As if she would be able to read his mind and heart toroughly until there was no secret left within him. Even though most students would still be confused with her lack of showing emotions, he got good at reading the signs her body language and face gave off. The way she walked along the hallway, she small blushes when she felt joy, little smiles for her student’s successful efforts. The hums when she took a stroll to the gardens or even just when she drifted off, as if her head got stuck far away from where her body was.

"What’s with the creepy grin?“

His mind returned to the table, facing the currently two biggest perverts in this hall, maybe even on the monastery grounds. Okay, besides Professor Manuela probably. There was no way, he would let them drool over the sight of his bathing teach. He was trying to convince himself that this was only for moral reasons and the best intentions. Although it was hard lying to himself. Deep within, he knew that the thought of the scenery pierced his gut and heart with painful jealousy. He had to manipulate Sylvain’s plan and disturb them. In the smallest corner of his head, there was also a voice cheering him on, the thoughts of her pale and sweaty skin shining like silk in the foggy air of the bathhouse. Her curvy figure, wet hair, slim and muscular legs and big –

"Still being creepy. But I guess that’s a yes then.“ Sylvain just emptied his plate, when Claude's mind snapped back.

"No worries my fellow comrades, we will succeed. As I am Lorenz Hellman Gloucester – “ He got cut off by a flying potato thrown towards him, ending up on the table. A „Shut up Lorenz!“ echoed through the dining hall. Lorenz blinked unimpressed and flicked the mushy vegetable away, sending it onto Ash’s plate.

"We will meet at dawn behind the east entrance to the bathhouse. And not a single word about this to anyone.“ As Sylvain set the time, he stood up and dragged Dimitri along the aisles. Lorenz gave Claude a last disgusted look before he also turned away and left for the exit. Ignatz looked troubled and uneasy whilst Ashe stared at this plate in sheer disappointment. Both of them picked up their dishes and waddled away. Claude stayed behind with his mind wandering off to the coming evening and about how he could manage to crush their perverted little dreams.

* * *

The hours passed by and Claude came up with… absolutely nothing. Every time he tried to focus his normally well-functioning brain around a scheme, the face of his teach popped up in his damped head, blocking him off from anything efficient. He would need to get creative and work with what he would be confronted with. After changing into a comfy brown tunic and some loose white pants, he carefully strolled to the bathhouse, hands in his pockets, trying to avoid any contact with wandering students or professors. When he arrived at the east entrance, everybody except for Ashe was already waiting for him.

"Ashe won’t be coming, so we can start operation peek-and-peep.“

"What, why won’t he come? And sheeesh, that name is horrifying, please don’t call it… that. Good thing you are not the tactical mastermind of your class.“

Sylvain shrugged. "Dunno, I guess he chickened out. But that’s fine, we have all the elites gathered around in a brotherhood of joint ambitions!“

Claude raised his eyebrows, he wasn’t exactly proud for the „brotherhood“ being greatly consistent of Golden Deer men. He brushed Sylvain’s furious speech aside with a gesture of his hand and pointed over to Dimitri. "What’s with him, he doesn’t look so good.“

"Aaah, he’s fine. Just needs to get out of his comfort zone from time to time. He will get used to it, right your highness?“ With a big claps upon his back, Dimitri stumbled forward, his face almost as pale as his chicken from lunch. He didn’t give away any sound and only nodded once in an almost unnoticeable movement.

Sylvain cleared his throat. "Alrighty then, so here is the plan. The ladies went in some time ago, so they should be already bathing. We sneak in, look for their belongings, get rid of those and then head off to the bath.“ He concluded with a wave of his hand.

Claude’s hand smacked his forehead, disbelieving of what he just heard. "What? We were never talking about actually stealing their stuff. Do you want to get us killed? Do you have any idea, what Shamir and Catherine will do to us if we get caught? And why the hell would you do that anyway?“

Lorenz straightened himself and crossed his arms. "I think of this as a marvelous idea. For once, this shall be a great training session for our stealth skills. For second, they may be outstandingly skilled knights, doing a great service to the monastery and academy. But they still are commoners without the understanding of which great sacrifices us nobles need to make for the sake of the common people. This should serve as a lesson to not meddle around with the complex noblese correlations.“

Claude’s amused laugh echoed throughout the empty courtyard. "No, no, no, that’s not it. You, Lorenz, are offended by Catherine’s scolding that other day. You can’t take it that she would overthrow your nonsense noblese talk. And you, my bright shining love knight, can’t take it that Shamir refused to go on a date with you. So, is this a deep running hunger for revenge or what else? You really want to be part of this shameless charade Ignatz?“ Claude’s overly dramatic gesture left Ignatz sweating in rather unsure conditions. He looked at the gound beneath his feet and fiddled with his glasses as he responded.

"Well, if you put it like that…“

"Hold it right there!“ Sylvain vigorously raised his hand and interrupted before Ignatz could think about it any further. "You are right. But this is not only for the sake of satisfaction but rather about the joyous appreciation of youth. So don’t dare you manipulate my inquisitive fellow comrades, and… ah, ah, ah“ – he raised a warning finger as Claude turned to Dimitri – "you are not allowed to speak to his highness. This is just for the best of him and I won’t let you ruin this for him. And by the way, don’t pretend to be the hero of the day, I know exactly what you are trying to do here.“ He started to grin deviously as his face moved closer to Claude’s ear, just for him to hear his following whisper. "No worries, letting others peek at her will not take anything away from you. But should you go back on this as well, then I won’t guarantee that I will only leave it at staring – “

The red-hair quickly ducked away from a swing of Claude‘s fist flying towards his face. The Golden Deer’s leader understood that this was merely a lighthearted tease serving for Sylvain’s pure entertainment. He knew that teach had fully seen through the playboy’s way of messing around and meddling with promises. She would rather just stare him to the ground or teach him a lesson within training sessions. Her personal favorite seemed to be letting him spar against the few female classmates he didn’t seem to notice as flirting objects because of questionable reasons, just leading him to actually underestimating them. Normally, it was about him avoiding Lysithea’s raging and painful spells or preventing Leonie from smashing in his flawless face with a weapon of her choice. This kept his mind busy, his mouth shut and raised the girl‘s self confidence massively. Ah yes, his teach had a great sense for sarcasm and deep-running life lessons. Never make a woman angry, neither on nor off the battle field.

As Sylvain fixed his hair, he grinned mischievously. "Now, now. No reason for violence. Shall we be on our way then?“ Without waiting for any responses, he gripped Dimitri’s arm, who was dangerously near a mental meltdown and dragged him towards the entrance. Ignatz slowly followed, whereas Lorenz couldn’t restrain himself from bumping into Claude before walking inside the bathhouse.

"Tss, ruuude…“. Claude scratched his head. This didn’t work as planned. He wouldn’t give up just yet, so all he could do was joining them.

Sneaking past the first few empty rooms, the group made their way towards the women’s dressing room. Since he was a well-behaved young man, Claude actually hasn’t been to the bathhouse before. He got the suspicion that wasn’t the case for Sylvain since he confidently leaded them to a certain chamber. They gathered silently, the room was lit up with some candles and oil lamps. He didn’t even have the time to view the clothing and other belongings piled up and stored in the wooden shelves. Sylvain took a quick swoop of everything he could grab and shared a handful with Ignatz.

"Let’s get that out of reach. Lorenz, get the towels. Let’s just hide them in another room, so we can – Dimitri, where are you going?“ Dimitri flinched as he tried to sneak away in silence and returned to the group with a sigh.

"There is no need for further delays. Let’s just dispose of the gatherings.“ Lorenz went straight for the window and tossed his arm full of towels outside. "This is actually quite thrilling, my heart is bursting from fulfilling excitement“. He turned around to Ignatz and snatched his sharing of clothing away.

Ignatz’s doubtful frown lets Claude smirk. So his classmates have finally reached their rebellious phase. This was a actually childish prank but as the boys never aligned to the enjoyment of scheming before, he could slightly understand their excited and adrenaline-filled mood. He was almost proud of them, if it wasn’t for the people they were actually pranking. His number one rule was all about knowing your prey and preparing for the best way about using or handling them. Every scheme could also fall into pieces because of unknown circumstances, there was never a way of finally ridding every risk. For those cases, the master tactician also had to be prepared to bear the consequences. In this case, Claude was almost certain he wasn’t ready to deal with the wrath of Shamir and Catherine. Professor Manuela would probably just be flattered about a male object actually taking interest in her in any way at all. As for teach… he thought he knew a lot about her in the meanwhile. But in scenarios like these, he could hardly imagine how she would react. Would she be annoyed or furious? Or would she simply not care, her face plastered with her usual indifference? He was sure he didn’t really want to know.

After Lorenz got rid of the towels and clothing, Sylvain shrugged "Oh, what the hell“ and also tossed his share of blouses and trousers out into the early night. "Now to the fun part, forward to the baths my comrades!“

Sneaking for several minutes around the building, they reached the women’s baths. They silently listened for any sounds coming from within. The deep voice of Catherine and hysterical laugh of Professor Manuela clearly rung through the hall and couldn’t be unheard. Sylvain grinned and gestured the boys to follow him quietly. They barely crawled on the floor to get past them unseen until they reached a safe spot behind one of the few pillars in the room.

_This is just cringy, you’re not that type of creep to be doing this_, Claude scolded himself while finding a spot to hide in. The boys could benefit from the damp and misty air, reducing the sight across the room to a minimum. But then of course, it also wasn’t playing into their hands from reaching their actual goal here. The silhouettes of three people shimmered through the foggy air, they could hardly be seen.

"WHAAAT? No, you did not dare to do that!!“

"Oh you bet I did, and right after that, I smacked him right in the middle of his little unmanly parts!!“

Matching her nickname, Catherine‘s thundering voice echoed through the hall, only to be beat by Professor Manuela‘s deafening howling. Man, this was screaming for headaches. How could anyone possibly be voluntary part of this?

"Sounds amusing. Please let me know before you confront him again, Catherine.“ Shamir‘s monotone voice was carried over to their ears. The women’s weird dialogue of gossiping and nasty details of things, nobody ever wanted to know about, continued for several minutes.

Claude figured that teach wasn’t in the bath although he wasn’t even sure, she was here with them at all, since he never had a chance to look at the clothing. He wasn’t interested in their old ladytalk and turned to the others beside him.

"I’m out of here“, he whispered. Sylvain rolled his eyes in annoyance, Lorenz leaned further toward the voices, trying to catch a glimpse of anything. When looking over to Dimitri, he noticed the begging look on his face, asking for saving from this humiliating position, while being tugged back by Sylvain. Claude shrugged apologetic and sneaked his way back to the hallway.

When he made it unseen outside of the baths, he dared to normally walk the rest. He was almost at the doors they entered from, when he heard hasty footsteps. No, they weren’t hasty. It was more of a…running? He turned around quickly, only to see a panicked pack of pathetic fools sprinting his way. The sheer horror in their eyes could not be a good sign. Claude took the next turn, not caring for any actual direction. All that mattered now was surviving. When he came to stop, he recognized the room, it was the one where they started this ridiculous nonsense. The women’s dressing room.

He panted from his short sprint here and looked around. Wasn’t there anywhere to hide himself away from the demonic doom that otherwise should await him? As he tried to think of something quickly, he heard steps coming up the hallway. This was it, this was to be the end to the heir of house Riegan. Since there was no time left and nothing to help him hide, he squeezed himself as tightly as possible against the corner behind the door, opening it as far as possible to cover him. Claude barely managed to stay still, trying to breathe out flat and quiet. The steps came closer, a gentle _tip-tap_ through the disconcerting silence of the hallway. His thoughts began to rush. Gentle? _Tip-Tap?_ He recognized the movement by sound. There was no way he would not. _Please don’t_. The steps stopped at the entrance and then entered the room. There was a mumbling of „Forgot the towel“, then the door was being moved to shut. Before his eyes, the scenery played itself in slow-motion.

When the door clicked into the lock, she noticed the figure lurking behind the door. As a former mercenary, her sharp instincts kicked in, and she took a forceful and unexpected swing of her fist to the strangers gut. But it wasn’t a stranger.

When her fist dug itself deeply into Claude’s stomach, the air escaped his lungs all at once. He collapsed to his knees and struggled to breathe. _Well, I guess I deserve it for today_. He got it worse from Hilda. As he gathered some air, he looked up.

"Heya teach! What a lovely evening, isn’t it? I’m quite surprised to meet you here, heheheeee…“ He coughed and cut off his awkward try of … whatever it was. Just then, it hit him hard, harder than the fist from a minute ago. Byleth was towering above him, with a slightly confused look on her face. While being completely bare. She wasn’t wearing anything at all, her hair was dripping wet, glued to her shoulders. _This can’t be happening. Of course she would be naked, the biggest idiots on these grounds tossed away anything wearable in this building_, he screeched to himself. He stared intensively into her eyes, even if it seemed unbearable. If he dared to look away, he wouldn’t know where to rest his sight on. He didn’t even blink. These few seconds seemed more than a dozen minutes, before she began so speak.

"Claude, would you mind explaining to me, why exactly you are hiding behind this door?“

"Oh didn’t you know? Cyril was having troubles with rats in here and I volunteered to get rid of them. My good deed of the day, ehe…“

If it wasn’t his nonsense blabbering, it was the desperation in his trembling voice that was giving him away. He tried to keep it as steady as possible, but the unpredictability of this happening to him was even melting his smoothness away.

"That so? How nice of you. But you are right, I did see some of those rats loafing around here. You should try burning them, keeps them dead for good.“ Byleth‘s emotionless expression changed to a mocking grin. Claude faltered at her facial expression. Was that…amusement? She clearly wasn’t bothered by the state of her standing in front of him, with nothing to hide. She didn’t give off any sign of nervousness or anger.

Embarrassment. This was all her head was full of. Here she was, as Sothis and her parents created her and nothing was going to stop this student of hers to soak in everything of her with his simple stare. Except that he didn’t actually do that. He focused his eyes strictly on hers, the deep shimmering forest green taking her own glance all in. Even now, he didn’t seem to lose his cool, except for the painful blow to the gut. _Well, he deserved that. _Sothis chuckled from the depths of her mind. She wanted to run or just throw herself on the floor, covering herself with everything she got. She wasn’t one to be bothered with her body. Full of scars and traces of her former life, she was proud of the strength and speed she possessed. She was also aware of her curves and the bewitching effect it could have on men. After all, she used it from time to time for distraction purposes, being mostly the last pleasant sight for her prey. But here and now, her head was a mess. _Of all people on these grounds, why did he have to be here? _Byleth felt a big lump in her throat, and she could swear she was about to choke on it. Before she could think any further about it, she heard a wild trample in the hallway.

"I know you are still here! I will get you and tear off those fancy pants of yours and I will hang you upside down by your feet at the gates of these very holy grounds. THREE DAYS LONG!!“ Catherine‘s furious roar roamed the hallway, her stomping steps close to the women’s dressing room.

Claude was prepared to die. Or at least to get hanged upside down by his feet. Naked. But before he could either move or say anything, Byleth stumbled towards him, dragging him up, from his still kneeling position and pressing onto him, against the wall, behind the door. He gave off some uncontrollable shocked screech, when the door flung open. Byleth covered his mouth and nose with her hand, daring him to stay silent. As the door wasn’t open very wide, she moved herself even closer to him, to keep both of them pressed against the corner of the room. Catherine’s angry steps slapped on the floor. She seemed to inspect the room for anything unusual. Claude held his breath, but it wasn’t because of Catherine. His heart raced so loudly against his chest, he feared his teach might hear the beat. He could feel her leaning in on him, with her full weight. He didn’t dare to move his hands, since he wouldn’t know where to place them anyway. The heat began to creep into his face. She had to get off him as fast as possible, otherwise –

She suddenly placed her head against his chest, breathing softly against his collarbone. He almost coughed at her unexpected movement. _Focus, Claude! _But everything about this moment shattered every little piece of his mind he had left. Her wet hair tickled his face, whilst her bare breasts pressed onto him. Her legs were placed between his and tried to maintain stability for the sake of both of them. A shiver ran through his body and made him break out in sweat.

Catherine was still yapping and cursing all over the room, apparently she was on the lookout for their clothing and towels. Whilst seconds began to feel like hours, Byleth tried to get a more comfortable standing and just ended up completely leaning onto Claude. Even though the danger of being spotted in this questionable position was hanging over them, she couldn’t restrain herself from her thoughts wandering off. To this very man she was standing next to, naked from head to toes. His scent of pine needle tea and foreign spices clouded her mind. It was familiar to her, but for some time now, this was what she imagined what a fresh breeze of wind would smell like. She could feel his heartbeat while laying her head on his chest. A steady but rushed pondering, a sound she herself wasn’t familiar with, since she didn’t have a heartbeat of her own. But this, this was the sound of life. Of his life. She curled her fingers in his tunic and buried her head into his neck. After a moment passed by, she felt his hands on her back, pulling her into a light embrace. She wouldn’t mind for this moment to last even longer than it felt.

The door was shut with a loud smack. Catherine has left the room in frustration, heading off on her search for her prey and some clothes. The pair in the corner remained motionless. Byleth moved her head slightly, Claude opened his resting eyes again, fully drawn into this moment. Their gazes locked into each other as they slowly moved towards the other one, only just inched separating them -

A loud screeching from further down the hallway threw them back into reality. Claude immediately backed off, staring at the door in uncertainty. He heard a panting and damped voice coming towards their room. He turned his gaze back to his teach, only to be overwhelmed by the reddish marks on her face. Byleth opened her mouth to say something, but before she had the chance to do so, Claude moved away from the corner and pulled off his tunic. He reached it out to her whilst looking away.

"So, before this gets anymore awkward than it already is, although I doubt that is even possible, please wear this, would you?“

She raised an eyebrow but took up on his offering. She pulled the tunic over her head, fitting easily into the fabric, since it was suited for a male body. The length covered half of her thigh, hiding her most private parts. "Well, it’s not like you haven’t seen most of it now, hm?“ she huffed in a dry voice.

His sassy grin returned to his face as he looked at her again. "Oh no Teach, you don’t understand. Unfortunately, I have some fellow travelers, who got lost on their way home. And to be honest, I’d rather not share my earnings of tonight“, he winked as her mouth fell open.

"Now, if you’ll excuse me. For the sake of Fódlan, I shall rush to the rescue of his highness to spare him of the eternal shame of public naked gawking. We don’t want Professor Manuela drooling all over his noble abs.“ And with that, he dropped himself to a deep bow before hopping around the corner, not leaving her any chance to respond or hold him back. His guess got confirmed as he spotted Dimitri lurching disorientated around the hallway.

"Run“, he shouted, grabbing his arm while sprinting past him. Dimitri’s confusion turned into relief as he recognized Claude, running along. They ran toward the end of hallway, Claude pointing to the window. „JUMP!“

Dimitri didn’t even have time to think about it and just got dragged with Claude, out into the cool breeze of the night, as they both roughly fell onto the ground.

"Sheeeh, I swear I could hear Catherine’s snorting right behind me“. Claude got up and patted the dirt from his loose pants. He held out his hand to Dimitri. The prince still sat on the ground, staring at Claude, when he broke into loud laughter as he took his hand. He stood up and both of them moved away from the bathhouse. Dimitri still barked out loud and could barely get a grip. Claude’s heart warmed up, he never saw Dimitri laughing like this before and it suited him fantastic. While walking back to the dorms, he moved his arms behind his head, gazing at the giggling prince.

"What’s so funny?“

"That was just hilarious. First, I was torn about Sylvain’s plan, not leaving me be in peace with this evening. But this was just… fun. I guess, he did have some point, about just enjoying youth. When there is hardly much else to enjoy.“

Claude flinched. He didn’t agree with Dimitri there, but now was not the time and place to argue over such issues. "Well, I’m glad you had fun.“

"Oh by the way, what happened to your tunic?“

Claude looked upon the sky, gazing at the constellations he knew by heart since childhood. "Uhh, don’t know. Just kinda, you know….lost it.“ He knew he had _Big fat lie _ridden all over his face, but what happened tonight was his little treasure to keep to himself.

Dimitri looked at him knowingly in silence, not asking further questions.

"So, did you actually see anything? That was Sylvain’s goal for you and Ignatz, right?“

The prince snorted loudly. "Yeah well, we did see a fierce Catherine rampaging towards us. But you know, Sylvain likes to underestimate me in some matters. As a matter of fact, I did witness things he could only dream of. And I certainly know that he does dream about it – unfortunately for me.“ He puckers his face.

"Hmm, interesting. If I combine that statement, my skilled observation and knowledge about the two of you, my educated guess would be that it has to do with our dear sweet lady Ingrid.“

Dimitri chuckled. "Claude, you are way too nosy. This will get you into big trouble one day. Curiosity killed the cat after all. But by all means, the story with Ingrid just happened by accident.“

Claude peeked over at him. "Well maybe that goes for big cats, but certainly not for deer. And sure, it’s always an accident. Me losing my tunic was also one.“

They silently walked back to their rooms, when cries of agony and fear echoed throughout the night. As Mercedes would tell one of her legendary stories, it is said, that the bathhouse beholds the cursed spirits of every student trying to get into the building secretly, awaiting a painful and everlasting nightmare brought over them by a furious witch. Since that very night, no student dared to go near the bathhouse anymore.

* * *

When Claude jumped away out to the hallway, Byleth felt the heat crawling up to her head. _What did just happen? _The unknown emotion teared at her insides, filling her up with euphoria and nausea at the same time. Was she getting sick? Sothis knocked on the inside of her mind. _„Oh child, you truly know nothing of this world and their people. I wish for you to keep giving yourself in to all of these new impressions, with me being at your side to aid you. You may contain the soul of a god-like creature but you still remain human. And as a human, you shall be fulfilled with emotions and ambitions in order to find what you seek …“ _

As usual, Sothis’words were those of a mystery for her. But she began to understand the true meaning to those whispers within her mind. Her fingers ran through the thin fabric of the tunic, as she pulled it up to her face, inhaling the scent of forests and wind.

Shamir walked in, undisturbed of the happenings of that night. "Did you see my armor? Or my towel? They somehow went missing.“ Byleth shook her head. Shamir looked skeptic. "Where did you find that top? Doesn’t look like your size.“

Byleth shrugged and put her stony face back on. "Found it.“

Shamir had the same indifferent expression as she left the room.

"Lucky you.“


End file.
